UN begins winding down Western Sahara mission after 35 years

The UN has ended its peacekeeping operations in Western Sahara after 35 years and begun dismantling the mission that helped monitor a ceasefire in the disputed territory.

The UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, known as MINURSO, ceased operations after its mandate expired without renewal. A smaller team will oversee the return of assets belonging to countries that contributed troops and the disposal of UN equipment, the organisation said. The winding-down period began on 1 November.

UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said on 2 November that the process would include sending home about 160 military observers, withdrawing 180 civilian and affiliated staff, and closing about 13 mission bases and team sites.

The mandate expired after rival proposals to extend it failed in the Security Council. Russia vetoed a US-backed draft, while a Russian alternative also failed to pass.

MINURSO was established in 1991 after a UN-brokered ceasefire. A planned referendum on self-determination never took place, with Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front disagreeing over who should be eligible to vote. Morocco controls most of Western Sahara and proposes autonomy under its sovereignty; the Polisario seeks independence. Hostilities resumed in 2020.

Morocco’s royal palace welcomed the mission’s non-renewal, while the Polisario called it unacceptable, the Associated Press reported.

Secretary-General António Guterres urged the parties to cooperate with the withdrawal and said the mission’s departure did not remove the Western Saharan people’s right to self-determination. Concerned about security and the risk of escalating hostilities, he also called for maximum restraint.

The UN said it remained ready to support dialogue towards a peaceful political solution through Guterres’s personal envoy, Staffan de Mistura.